A Winnipeg man has been acquitted of attempted murder in the shooting of Calli Vanderaa.
In October 2015, the then 16-year-old girl was sitting in a car when she was shot through the window with a stolen RCMP gun.
Vanderaa was hit in the chest and spent 21 days in hospital fighting for her life.
READ: EXCLUSIVE: Winnipeg girl shot with stolen RCMP gun speaks publicly
Matthew McKay was charged but the judge said Thursday witness testimonies from a number of teens who were drunk on the night of the shooting were unreliable.
Justice Sheldon Lanchberry said in his verdict that the crown did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that McKay was the shooter. He also cited a lack of physical evidence and issues with police procedure involving photo books initially used to identify McKay.
After the verdict, Vanderaa and her father, Corey, quickly left the courtroom but Corey started yelling from the hallway to ‘bring him out here’ and that he would ‘punch him out’ before bursting back into the courtroom.
“Your days are numbered, McKay. Your days are numbered,” he exclaimed, pointing his finger at McKay, who had been smiling.
Corey continued to yell from the hallway as he was placed in handcuffs by a crew of sheriffs.
“You’re with the media, right? You’re getting all this? Make sure to give me a call in prison after I knock this guy out,” he yelled as his daughter filmed the ordeal. “My daughter almost f—ing died, and he gets nothing?”
When a sheriff told Corey he was going to lockup, Calli screamed, “you’re not locking up my dad!” At that point, family of McKay still in the courtroom said, “shut up Calli.” Sheriffs then escorted them away.
READ: “I just want to get better”: Winnipeg shooting victim’s slow recovery
Calli was placed in custody for filming in the hallway, screaming for her dad as she was being led away. Another man unconnected to the case was also cuffed for filming, which is banned inside the courthouse.
At the time of the shooting police said McKay and another suspect, Matthew Miles, had broken into a marked off-duty RCMP member’s car parked in the officer’s driveway in southeast Winnipeg.
Comments